Farmer who shot man after eggplant slip 'never pulled trigger'

A Victorian farmer who accidentally shot dead a man after tripping on an eggplant should be given a short jail sentence because he never pulled the trigger, his lawyer says.

Angelo Russo, 55, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of David Calandro, 43, who was shot in front of his two young sons while sitting in his ute in 2017.

Russo says he tripped on an eggplant while holding his loaded double-barrel shotgun at his Tatura farm in the Goulburn Valley on February 18 last year.

David Calandro, 43, was shot in front of his two young sons while sitting in his ute in 2017. Picture: Supplied (Nine)Russo says he tripped on an eggplant while holding his loaded double-barrel shotgun at his Tatura farm in the Goulburn Valley on February 18 last year. Picture: AAP (Nine)

The defence says a police ballistics expert confirmed the gun had a faulty safety switch and would have been capable of firing a shot without the trigger being activated.

Related Articles

"Whichever way you look at it, a man has been killed in front of his children," he said.

"There's no getting around that."

But Mr Tehan said Russo's crime was not as serious as other manslaughter cases.

(Nine)

"We would urge the court to take the view that it should tailor the sentence ... to achieve a result where he returns to his family and the community that he's lived in - so soon as the leniency permits."

Russo had no intention of shooting Mr Calandro and was holding his gun, after moments earlier putting down his dog Harry, Mr Tehan said.

His spaniel was run over by Mr Calandro while he was driving out of Russo's property.